Bear the Burden: McMahon Clan 3 (Fated Mates Book 6) (8 page)

“Now, I’m going to claim the last part of you I can, a part of your body that will be mine and only mine.”

When she didn’t offer any protest, I slid out of her pussy and reached for the lube I’d left inside the nightstand. Squirting some into my hand, I slathered my cock before moving into position. When I nudged her puckered opening, I felt her tense as the head of my cock started to push inside.

“Easy now,” I soothed, running a hand down her spine until it rested on the top of her ass.

I slowly worked my way into her tight hole, careful to limit the discomfort she felt. Once I made it past the tight ring of muscles, I pulled her back onto me. Slowly, inch by inch, until I was seated fully inside her ass.

“Fucking perfect,” I groaned as I began to thrust gently. The sight of my cock sliding into her ass was the hottest thing I’d ever seen and had me quickly on edge. I refused to go over without her, so I reached around her body and stroked her clit, making her orgasm again. I stiffened inside her, my hot come filling her ass and marking her with my scent from the inside. I was reluctant to leave her body, but knew I’d cause her pain if I stayed in her ass much longer. I allowed myself a couple more thrusts before I gently pulled out and rolled to the side, gathering her onto my chest.

We lay there panting, my hands wrapped in her hair as we both tried to catch our breath. I was enjoying the closeness of this moment, my heart finally starting to slow, when she suddenly jumped out of bed. “Carrick!”

Her face paled and she swayed, falling to her knees and pulling me out of my stupor. I raced to her side. “What is it?”

Her eyes clouded over and it felt like she was no longer in the room with me even though I was holding onto her. With my mate’s limp body in my arms as she trembled and mumbled under her breath, I’d never been more terrified in my life. By the way she’d just screamed my dad’s name, I knew he had to be in trouble too, but there was no way I was going to let go of her until she came back to her senses.

“Selene, baby,” I whispered, sweeping her hair from her forehead and staring into her eyes, praying she’d snap out of it soon.

She screamed, a torturous sound of pain. A burst of light streamed out of her mouth and scattered in the air. When the last bit flickered away, Selene fell silent. Her lips were blue and dark circles ringed her eyes, a sharp contrast to the paleness of her skin. My heart fell at the sight, fearful she’d died in my arms. I lowered my ear to her chest, desperate for the sound of her heartbeat—praying for a sign of life. For one brief moment, I lost hope and then I heard it, the soft thud of her heart. I cried out in relief and leaned over her mouth to make sure she was breathing. When I felt a puff of air escape her lips, my knees gave out and I pulled her onto my lap as I fell to the ground.

My attention was entirely focused on her, I barely heard the sound of my phone as it blared with my dad’s ringtone. Reaching an arm out to where I’d dropped my pants in my doorway, I was able to snag a leg of my jeans and pull them toward me. My unconscious mate wrapped tightly in one arm, I dug for my phone with my other hand. I wasn't going to get any answers from her until she woke up and I needed to know if there was anything I could do to help her while she was in this state. It was possible whoever was on the other end of the line using my dad’s phone would know what happened and could offer me some advice about what to do for Selene.

“Thank the Goddess you answered,” Audra cried. “Are you both okay? I can’t believe Selene was able to hold that spell to protect us from so far away. I’ve never seen such a magnificent display of magical power before.”

“I’m fine, but Selene’s not.” I couldn’t bear to describe her current state to her mom. Not when I felt like I’d failed my mate and I wasn’t sure if she’d recover from this.

“Does it look like she’s sleeping after being sick for a long time?”

It was an apt description of Selene’s appearance. “Yes.”

“The bigger the spell, the higher the toll a witch usually pays. I’m sure it must be frightening to see her looking like this. Considering how new she is to the strength of her powers, I would expect her body hasn’t had time to adjust to them yet. This will hopefully be the most she’ll suffer from the use of her powers, and the worst you’ll have to see.”

“Fuck,” I gasped. “It’s bad, Audra. For a minute there, I thought she was dead.”

“I’m so sorry, Camden. I should have warned you about the downside to large displays of power, but I never expected she’d have to do something like this so soon.”

“What happened over there?”

“The dark practitioners launched an attack on your father. Tempest and I were barely holding it off when I felt Selene’s presence in my mind. Then, the house was surrounded by a wall of water, wind whipping over the roof. The floor of your dad’s living room opened up and a fence of rocks surrounded him in the blink of an eye. It all happened in less than a minute—water, air, and earth spells in unison. I’ve never seen or even heard of anything like it, not from spells cast by a lone witch.”

“My dad wasn’t hurt?”

“The dark practitioners didn’t stand a chance, not against my daughter,” she assured me, pride evident in her tone. “Do you want me to come over and help with Selene? There isn’t much either of us can do for her. Sleep is the best medicine while her magic recharges.”

“I’ll watch over her,” I promised. “If anything changes, I’ll call.”

I was relieved to know my dad was safe, and proud as hell it was my mate who had protected him, but I couldn’t help but worry about what would happen next, or how I’d be able to keep her safe when she needed it.

O
ne minute I was wrapped in Camden’s arms, trying to recover from the most intense orgasm ever, and the next, I was waking up to the sun high in the sky and feeling like I’d drunk an entire bottle of tequila by myself. “Oh my Goddess,” I moaned.

“Thank fuck.” Camden’s growl came from the left of the bed. I turned my head to look in his direction and found him sitting in a chair beside me. He looked like he hadn’t slept in a week, with wrinkled clothes and a scruffy jaw.

“How long was I out of it?” I’d felt the recoil from using magic before, but never to this extent.

He didn’t look at the alarm clock before answering. “Sixteen hours and twenty-six minutes.”

“You didn’t count the seconds?” It was a lame attempt at a joke; one Camden didn’t seem to appreciate, judging by the glare he sent my way.

“I would have counted them, but I was too busy flipping the fuck out to keep track of the time that precisely,” he snapped. “I spent the first minute thinking you were dead. After I had confirmed your heart was beating and you were breathing, I managed to answer my phone and talk to your mom. She insisted you’d be okay, but she has also called to check on you about a dozen times since then. It didn’t exactly instill a hell of a lot of confidence in me for your well-being.”

“I’m sorry you were worried about me. I know it can be scary. The first time I saw my mom when she was recovering from a difficult spell, I was scared to death,” I admitted softly.

“You’re my mate and there was nothing I could do for you!” he roared.

I held my hand out to him. When his was clasped in mine, I yanked him onto the bed with me. “I beg to differ. I’m snuggled in your bed because you put me here. I’ve slept undisturbed this whole time while you watched over me. And if I had to guess, I’d bet the bottle of water and ibuprofen on the bedside table is for me and was put there by you so I’d have them as soon as I woke up.”

“It isn’t enough,” he grumbled, reaching over to grab the items from the table and handing them to me.

I popped a couple of the pills into my mouth and chased them down with the water. “It was everything I needed while I was out of it.” My stomach growled loudly. “Unfortunately, there was no way for you to feed me while I slept. Now, I’m starving.”

“Selene,” he groaned, rubbing his hands over his face, “you scared years off my life last night and now all you’re worried about is food.”

“And a shower,” I added. “Because I feel gross.”

“This better not be a regular occurrence with you. If it is, I’m going to have to put my foot down about you using your magic,” he threatened.

He’d been accepting of my powers up until now, and I had to hope he was only speaking out of fear. Either way, I needed to put a stop to this. “If you asked me—and you’ll notice my use of the word ‘ask’ instead of ‘tell’, because it’s my decision, not yours—to stop using my magic, it would be the same as me trying to tell you that you couldn’t shift into your bear anymore.”

“I wouldn’t be able to do it. Not even for you.”

“That’s precisely my point, Camden. Shifters shift and witches cast spells,” I explained. “My being a witch is part of who I am, just as you being a bear is part of who you are. I wouldn’t be able to change for you, even if I wanted to. Which I don’t.”

“Shit, I’m fucking this up.” He rearranged us on the mattress so his back was against the headboard and I was on his lap. “I’m proud as hell you were able to save my dad from whatever the dark practitioners had in store for him. I know I have your magic to thank for that. You’re my mate and you’re a witch. I wouldn’t change either thing about you, but it was hard as fuck to see what it did to you afterwards. If I’d been able, I would have switched places with you in a heartbeat.”

“It looked worse than it really was,” I tried to reassure him. “I wasn’t in any pain while I slept.”

“How about when you woke up? The first thing you did was take the pain killers I put out for you.”

“I’d put it at hangover level. Now that I’ve slept it off, I swear all I need is some food and a shower.” My stomach growled again, adding an exclamation point to my statement.

“If food and a shower are what you need, then that’s exactly what you’ll get.” He lifted me off the bed and carried me into the bathroom, not leaving until he’d started the water and pulled fresh towels out for me. By the time I stepped out of the shower, I almost felt like new again. And the meal Camden made me almost finished the job. I was still a little tired, but I rested my eyes on the ride over to Carrick’s house.

When we arrived, I was back to one-hundred percent and ready to work on some protective wards for the house and Camden’s family. Without their own magic, they were the most at risk when the dark practitioners attacked. They had no way to fight against their wicked spells. Last night’s attack had been focused on Carrick, but there was no guarantee they wouldn’t strike out at other members of the clan since they’d failed. Considering Channing’s first strike had been against Annora and her baby, we had to assume nobody was safe from the spells they’d lob our way in the future.

“Selene,” my mom called out as she rushed toward Camden’s truck. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Mom.” I waved her off as I stepped down. “I’m ready to get back to work.”

“Wouldn’t you prefer to relax while Tempest and I handle the protective charms? We’ve already acquired all the materials we need.”

I loved her, but she was thinking like a mother and not a high priestess. “You’re the one who taught me a leader must always use each member of the team to their best advantage based on the person’s unique set of skills. Not to toot my own horn too much, but I have a lot of skills you can use to help protect everyone. Plus, time is of the essence since we don’t know when they’ll strike again. It’s best if we get the charms done as soon as possible so we can move onto protecting the house.”

“Fine,” she grumbled, walking away and leaving Camden and me to follow behind.

“You sure you’re up to this?” Camden murmured.

“Absolutely.”

And I hadn’t overstated my confidence. It took us half the time I’d expected before the charms were done. When Tempest carried them into the kitchen to show Carrick and Camden, it was the first moment my mom and I had alone together since I’d arrived.

“How are you really feeling?” she asked.

“Great, actually. I know it’s probably a surprise. For all intents and purposes, I should still be laying low after the magnitude of the spell I had cast. Finding Camden has made me stronger. Better.”

“I can understand how you feel invincible right now. It was much the same for me when I fully came into my powers and I’m not nearly as strong as you. But I need you to be careful, Selene. I’m asking you, as your mother, to please exercise some caution in the upcoming confrontation with the dark practitioners.”

“I’m always careful.”

“You’ve thrown caution to the wind over the last few days,” she disagreed. “Nothing is like it used to be before we stepped foot on that plane, including your behavior. You can’t say you’ve always been careful anymore.”

“That’s not fair, Mom. I haven’t done anything you wouldn’t have done if you were in my place.”

She heaved a deep sigh. “You’re probably right, but your actions ended up harming you last night.”

“Nothing permanent, though. It only took some rest, a shower, and food for me to feel like myself again.”

“Not yet anyway,” she muttered. “And it wasn’t some rest. It was sixteen hours of sleep!”

This was more than a display of motherly concern. I was starting to feel like something else was at play here. “You’ve needed half a day to recover from a particularly strong spell before, Mom. Sixteen hours isn’t totally outside the norm, not enough for this kind of reaction. What’s really bothering you?”

“Oh, Selene,” she sighed before flashing me an apologetic smile. “I’m not sure if it was only because I was worried about you last night or if it was a premonition. I didn’t want to influence your decisions too much by telling you what I saw in my dream. But here I am making a big deal about the very thing I didn’t want to bring up in the first place.”

“Which means you have no choice. You must tell me all about it,” I insisted. “You can’t leave me wondering like this. It will drive me crazy. Maybe even distract me when I need to be one-hundred percent focused.”

“You’re laying it on a little thick, don’t you think?”